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Parlement Européen Think Thank   

• Brefings et études relatives aux syndicat, emploi et droits de l'homme 

The European Minimum Wage Directive – and why it is a challenge to trade unions’ but not employers’ unity; Irene  Dingeldey, Ilana Nussbaum Bitran; Economic and industrial democracy; 2024-05, Volume 45, Issue 2;  pp.489-510

The proposal of a European minimum wage directive by the European Commission was supposed to improve working conditions. This article asks why such an initiative created a challenge to the unity of unions, but not of employers’ associations at transnational level. The authors provide a network analysis of the communication structure of social partners. Applying Scharpf’s concepts of positive and negative integration and Hirschman’s typology of exit, voice and loyalty, the authors use qualitative methods to show how employers stayed loyal and united towards negative integration, while different voices arose within the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) leading to the temporary ‘exit’ of the Swedish Trade Union Confederation.

Trade unions and precariat in Europe: Representative claims; Guglielmo Meardi, Melanie Simms, Duncan Adam; European Journal of Industrial Relations; 2021; Volume 27; Issue 1, pp.41-58

Trade unions have been charged with neglecting labour market ‘outsiders’, while alternative actors have emerged to represent these. In response, unions have stepped up their claim to be representative of all workers, without distinction. We review the theoretical and policy debates on this issue, and argue that representation as such has been under-theorized. We draw on Saward’s concept of ‘representative claims’ to analyse the different grounds for competing assertions of representativeness. We identify four main forms of claims, and illustrate these with empirical examples. We conclude that these different claims are mutually reinforcing in stimulating attention to the outsiders, and in their interaction with institutional settings, they have a performative effect in defining new social actors.

Global Unions as imperfect multilateral organizations: An international relations perspective; Elizabeth Cotton, Rebecca Gumbrell-McCormick; 2012; Economic and Industrial Democrac; Volume 33; Issue 4

This study applies an international relations framework and the notion of multilateral organizations as a means of understanding the nature of trade union internationalism and the conditions under which it operates. The authors argue that international trade unionism involves an imperfect multilateralism which requires close working relationships between small groups of unions in order to function, that is, a ‘minilateral’ method of working. By using this framework the authors attempt to highlight the intrinsic durability and adaptability of the Global Unions and also identify areas of activity that serve to strengthen them as organizations, primarily by building affiliates’ engagement and investment in them.

‘Heart of steel’: how trade unions lobby the European Union over emissions trading; Adrien Thomas; Environmental Politics; 2021; Volume 30;  Issue 7; pp.1217-1236

This contribution aims to provide a better understanding of trade unions’ engagement with climate change policies. It analyses the interactions between intra- and interorganizational bargaining, taking steel trade unions’ engagement with the 2018 revision of the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) as a case study. The contribution finds that interorganizational bargaining with employers’ organizations strongly influenced the formulation of trade unions’ negotiating positions on the EU ETS. This is mainly due to the combination of three factors: the scope EU multilevel decision-making offers each level of trade union action to pursue its interests; trade unions’ lack of expertise on climate policies; and the tradition of concession bargaining in the manufacturing industry. By underlining the difficulties faced by trade unions in developing an independent course of action on the EU ETS, the contribution expands our knowledge of the socio-political obstacles to implementing effective emissions reduction policies.

The right to take collective action in EU law based on the European Pillar of Social Rights and the recent case law of the CJEU; Márton Leó Zaccaria; Pro Futura;  2019; Issue 3; pp.9-24

This paper is built around the workers’ fundamental right to take collective action and collective bargaining. Although, this right is firmly embedded in the majority of labour law systems in the social policy (meaning labour law, too) of the European Union, it is worth analysing it separately with an independent meaning. We can approach this right from the fundamental rights, the fundamental treaties or from certain directives, so we can find several questions that are difficult to answer properly. These problems are mostly catalysed by the necessary collision between the need for socially motivated legal protection and the fundamental economic freedoms. In my research, I analyse this right – along with some other connected ones – with the help of the recent case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union and the European Pillar of Social Rights because the latter highlights the holistic approach in the current reforms of EU social policy

The Restructuring of Finnish Trade Unions – the Growing Importance of Women; Tapio Bergholm, Markku Sippola; Nordic Journal of Working Life Studies; 2022; Volume 12; Issue S8; pp.73-88

The membership profile of Finnish trade unions has changed from male-dominated industrial workers to female-dominated service and public sector workers who are more highly educated. The Finnish labour market is strongly divided into female and male occupations and sectors, and these intersectional differences play an important part in the differentiation of developmental paths. The erosion of membership is mainly due to the rapid growth of the independent unemployment fund (YTK) competing with unemployment funds associated with trade unions. YTK has been much more successful in recruiting private sector male workers than women. Men’s decisions not to join the union are related to the shift in the motivation to unionise from social custom to instrumental reasons. Along with the gender majority shift, union identification has changed, and unions need to carry out ‘identity work’ to attain members. The shift in gender proportions has also had consequences for the collective bargaining system.

O futuro do trabalho entre as vozes da academia e as perspetivas sindicais; Hermes Augusto Costa; Configurações; 2019; pp.11-27

Após uma sistematização teórica breve de alguns debates sobre o futuro do trabalho, os quais podem ser condensados sob a forma de um confronto de posições (mais críticas/ pessimistas versus mais tolerantes/otimistas), este texto fornece duas ilustrações empíricas daí decorrentes. Por um lado, apresenta-se uma experiência pedagógica inédita no espaço universitário europeu inspirada nos diálogos do centenário da OIT. Por outro lado, em resultado de um projeto de investigação, expõem-se algumas perceções de sindicalistas sobre o futuro do trabalho. Da experiência pedagógica sobressai uma visão propositiva e ousada dos jovens, ao passo que da visão dos responsáveis sindicais ecoa um maior pessimismo (mormente sobre o desafio tecnológico). Ainda assim, ambas as visões parecem convergir na necessidade de perspetivar o futuro do trabalho com base em imperativos regulatórios de sentido emancipatório.

Rola związków zawodowych w budowie społeczeństwa obywatelskiego, Marcin Kazimierczuk; 2021; Civitas Et Lex; Tom 28; Numer 4, pp.29–42

Związki zawodowe są jedną z form zrzeszania się w realiach państwa demokratycznego, których istotą jest organizowanie się pracowników w celu obrony swoich interesów. Funkcjonowanie tego typu zrzeszeń, opierających się na dobrowolnej, nakierowanej nie na osiągnięciu dochodu, pracy ich członków, służących nie tylko zaspokojeniu prywatnych celów, ma znaczenie nie tylko z punktu widzenia statusu prawnego jednostki, ale również sfery życia społecznego o pewnej autonomii wobec władz publicznych. Celem niniejszego artykułu jest wykazanie, że tworzenie oraz funkcjonowanie związków zawodowych stanowi istotny element naczelnej zasady ustroju społecznego współczesnych państw demokratycznych, określanej jako społeczeństwo obywatelskie.